View from Brussels [News Comment]

THE TERROR ATTACKS in Paris in January that saw 17 people murdered by self-declared Islamists changes the dynamics of international politics. Last year was the year of East-West confrontation and talk of a new Cold War. There was Western-backed regime change in Ukraine. Russia said there was a Western coup on its doorstep. Russia occupied Crimea. The EU and USA imposed a raft of sanctions on Russia. In the air, games of chicken took place over the Baltic Sea between Russian and Western jet fighters. The US had its Saudi ally pump more oil to diminish Russia´s export income; as of early January, the rouble was falling like a stone. One West European elder statesman has said he fears 2015 will be the year of the ´big war´. Policymakers should not need to be told that Russia is a nuclear-armed state.